Arm Me an Army #1

In this series of articles, I’ll try to cover some of the army lists I’ve used for Dust Tactics/Battlefield/Warfare. I may also feature lists used by members of my local playgroup who piqued my curiosity.

With the conclusion of our month-long campaign, Operation: Chronos, I would like to take time and discuss some of the lists I used for my matches. I had a total of some 20+ games during the entire progress of the campaign, some won me games, others obviously didn’t fare too well.

As previously discussed, one of the main purpose of the campaign is to get our local players familiarized with the new rules for Dust Tactics. With majority, if not all, units from my chose bloc, Allies, drastically changed, it’s time to experiment on a few mechanics. It is worth noting that during the earlier half of the campaign, we only had access to the units previewed on the Dust official website. As we go along, however, we got more cards and stats made available to us.

Army List 1:

Bazooka Joe (12), The Big Boss (13), Grim Reapers x3 (33), Bot Hunters x2 (18), Wildfire x2 (14), Hammers (10). Total: 100 AP.

With the first load of previews of the new unit cards and rules, one of the first thing I wanted to try out was fielding (and hopefully abusing) multiple Officer Units. Joe is one of the top choices, having Officer skills combined with his Black Ops make for an optimal “lead from the shadows” centerpiece. During that time, The Big Boss was the only other non-character Officer unit previewed so they were automatically included.

Having a quarter of my force spent on background units, my remaining 75 points must be a force to reckon with. A Grim Reapers squad is one of my staples being a very offensive anti-infantry unit. Having three on your side should spell headache to the opposition.

For armors, I turned to 2 squads of Bot Hunters. Nothing too impressive but they’re cheap and a squad can be joined by Joe should he feel like, well, Bot Hunting or something.

My pair of Wildfires acts as an alpha strike and/or clean-up unit, depending on how aggressive I want to get. If they survive the first wave of attacks, they can also serve as defense towers to my commanders.

Rounding out my list is a squad of a handy dandy Hammers. The combination of Charge, Flying and First Strike all packed in just 10 AP, yes please! They’re very good at pounding problematic characters and/or vehicles, bypassing Steel Guard/Superhuman/Zombie saves, and they can go Shoryuken against aircrafts.

10 activations are above average, at least from what I’ve observed from my local play group. With Joe’s Black Ops, you have better chances of winning the Initiative roll per round so you can dictate judging by your assessment of your opponent’s force if you want to go first or not. The general strategy is to position the Bot Hunters first, followed by the Grim Reapers. Depending on the situation, I will almost always have my The Big Boss follow to either try and reactivate a Grim Reaper or have a nearby unit injected with Stimulants. Wildfires will open fire on those more aggressive infantries like the fast moving Fakyelis or those pesky Zombies. Joe will then attempt to reactivate The Big Boss, if successful, another Stimulant or 2 attempts at reactivating a Grim Reapers squad.

This list won me my first weeks during the campaign, having lost only to an SSU list where I had to downsize to match his points. The massive rolls of the Grim Reapers against Armor 3 or lower are not something to joke about. Depending on the situation, you can focus fire on certain, hardy (or lucky) units, or you can split to several softer ones. Wildfires are very nice. The 11-square effective opening range is very decent and often times, they have to be taken down by units worth more points, exposing them in the process. The Advanced Reactive Fire can almost always frustrate would-be attackers, attempting to take a nibble on your Officers. I can’t stop saying how much I love the Hammers.

The Bot Hunters are what I consider to replace in this list. Switching them for another squad of Hammers and a squad of Gunners, this time dedicated to escort Joe.

What do you think of my list? I would like to hear your feedback and if possible, let me know if you get to take it for a spin in your own community.